Scandinavian Style in New Zealand

Gemma Cagnacci and Andrew Meehan spend most of their time in an apartment in Sydney, but a couple of times a year, they travel to Dunedin, New Zealand to visit Andrew’s family. And when there, they stay in their own little cabin on his parents’ property. It was initially an old railway cabin used by rail workers who were laying tracks in New Zealand, and as a teenager, Andrew used the cabin as his bedroom (He was one lucky teenager!). Then, a little over a year ago, the couple decided to make it into a vacation retreat. Gemma is a designer for a textile company by day where she creates products for various Australian retailers, and in her spare time, she runs Line x Color x Shape, a blog about all things aesthetic. Andrew is a designer for a renowned Australian architectural firm and has a background in retail design. So when these two put their heads together to come up with a design for the cottage, they had a pretty solid sense of what they were looking for. They aimed to create a space that was clean, simple and light-filled with some warmth. They took a lot of inspiration from Scandinavian interiors, but wanted to be sure to reference the cabin’s Pacific location by sourcing pieces from New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and also from their travels around the world. -Amy

Image above: “The exterior is painted in Double Cod Grey by Resene Paints,” Gemma says. “The cabin was originally an old railway shelter used by railway workers in remote locations. It then had a second life as Andrew’s bedroom when he was a teenager, and was renovated just over a year ago by us to use when visiting Andrew’s family on their farm in Dunedin, New Zealand.”

Image above: “The bed was found and bought on Trade Me (a New Zealand version of eBay) before we flew in to do-up the space, the rug is a vintage Afghan carpet, the artwork above the bed is an old bark tapa cloth from Papua New Guinea, the suitcase belonged to Andrew’s grandfather, and Andrew found the log on the property which we then turned into a bedside table/stool.”

See more of this precious New Zealand cabin after the jump!
Image above: “The shelves are from IKEA and are filled with photos and artwork we created ourselves, including found pieces from an old barn on the property and vintage New Zealand postcards to reference our cabin’s location.”

Image above: “Most of the photos have been taken on our many trips to New Zealand. After visiting family, we always try to visit a new place when we visit New Zealand and love to capture the incredible landscape.”

Image above: “The beaker is from an online science supply store, the crystals were bought at a market in Queenstown, New Zealand, and the vintage ruler was found at a flea market in Beijing, China.”

Image above: “I painted some of Andrew’s old surfboard fins and thought they would make a nice addition to the space. The cabin is right by the beach, and some of New Zealand’s best surf breaks. I wanted to add a few hints to this location and the fact that Andrew loves surfing.”

Image above: “Gumboots are a necessity on a farm and I particularly love my Hunters – so classic!”

Image above: “One of the many beautiful sunsets seen from the property.”

Love this cabin. So fresh and inviting inside. Although it looks great black, I would probably go lighter to keep it cooler. Other than that it is perfect! It caught my eye and then I noticed Gemma is a textile design too so I had to check out her blog. Thank you Design Sponge for posting such great content :)

I am so in love with New Zealand, I told my husband that I would move there in a heartbeat! I love their choice of waiting the interior white, definitely opens up such a small space. Definitely the perfect vacation retreat!

@SAMANTHA COBOS – having been to this part of the world, I can assure you that keeping it cool is not a problem. The black was a brilliant choice in a a very cold, unforgiving part of the world, no matter how sunny the photos look!

Just discovered here my favourite house. And it is in my favourite country!

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